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Chamberlain and Lyman Brown Papers Perhaps Chamberlain Brown’s most controversial Broadway play was Chamberlain Brown’s Scrap Book that opened at the Ambassador Theatre in 1932. He classified it as a “vaudeville,” thus permitting more than eight performances a week. However, Actors’ Equity Association ruled the show a revue and demanded its members give immediate notice. A week later, the ruling was overturned, but Chamberlain Brown’s victory was short-lived, since the musicians refused to work without being paid first, causing the production to close. (This incident is documented in correspondence with Actors’ Equity Association.) His stock production of A Church Mouse ran at the Mansfield Theatre in June and July of 1933. The Brown brothers also presented Ruth St. Denis and Ted Shawn (venue unknown, 1930), as well as a vaudeville act with Fritzi Scheff in Chicago (1930). In the late 1930s and 1940s, Chamberlain Brown’s production attempts included performances by his acting students at the Brooklyn Academy of Music in 1938, contests, a dance marathon, and staged benefits, including performances of Taken from Life, a play reportedly by Chamberlain Brown and Arthur Chalmers, a New York City policeman convicted of murder. Scheduled productions sometimes did not open, such as Dangerous Corner and Outward Bound at the Astor Theatre in East Hartford, Connecticut in 1949. Beginning in 1926, Chamberlain Brown hosted radio programs discussing the theater or presenting talent on various stations such as WINS, WMCA, and WOR. By 1948, he was paying WGYN for his radio segment without Lyman’s knowledge. Chamberlain also embarked upon a number of professional activities that dovetailed with the agency business, including founding membership clubs such as the Talent of the Hour Club (ca. 1940) and the Theatre Record Club (ca.1940). Much to Lyman Brown’s consternation, Chamberlain Brown also initiated several unsuccessful publications such as Chamberlain Brown’s Dramatic Mirror (1934-1935), Paint and Powder (1936-1937) and Theatre Record (1938-1953). Chamberlain Brown also undertook giving lectures, but without great success. Perhaps because of an inability to evolve professionally with the changing times, or Chamberlain Brown’s lifestyle, the Brown agency floundered, despite family financial support for the brothers. Chamberlain declared bankruptcy in 1934 and was the defendant in numerous lawsuits for collection of funds spanning several decades. Chamberlain Brown died suddenly on November 12, 1955 in New York City at the age of sixty-three. Lyman Brown died in New York City on March 31, 1961 also at the age of sixty-three. Scope and Content Note 5
Chamberlain and Lyman Brown Papers The Chamberlain and Lyman Brown Theatrical Agent Records are approximately 351 linear feet and contain business and personal correspondence, legal and financial papers, scrapbooks, production materials, clipping files, scripts, and photographs covering the history of the entertainment industry from the end of the 19 th century through the middle of the 20 th century. The bulk of the agency records spans more than a fifty year period beginning in 1903 and ending in 1959. Much of the material in the papers pertains to Chamberlain Brown and his activities from his early career as an actor to his death in 1955. Chamberlain and Lyman Brown represented many famous actors including Spencer Tracy, John Carradine, Lon Chaney, Jr., Tom Ewell (who worked in the agency office), Hal Holbrook, Ruth Chatterton and Constance Collier, among others. The Brown brothers also claimed to have launched the careers of Clark Gable, Helen Hayes, Alfred Lunt, Jeanette MacDonald, Tallulah Bankhead, Don Ameche, Jack Haley, Preston Foster, Rudolph Valentino, Robert Walker, and Glenda Farrell. From their childhood, the Brown brothers also collected theatrical materials consisting of autographs and ephemera from actors and actresses during the late 1800s. The collection contains a large number of these items, either collected or purchased by the Brown brothers, for many 19 th and early 20 th century performers. The agency files are also included in the collection. There are also a number of papers relating to actress and singer Fritzi Scheff, a particular favorite of the brothers. The agency correspondence and associated ephemera documents the range and changes in the performing arts industry for almost half a century. The collection contains extensive materials on 19 th and 20 th century theater including over six hundred scrapbooks, correspondence from many famous, as well as now forgotten actors, singers, vaudevillians, burlesque performers and managers, extensive newspaper clippings, autographs, signed photographs, and programs. The Brown brothers continued to correspond with many of these performers, including Mrs. Leslie Carter, Marie Curtis, and Amelia Bingham, after their retirement from the stage. There are also materials relating to Edward Everett Horton, Claire Boothe Luce, members of the Barrymore and Drew families, Clark Gable, Ray Bolger, Joe E. Brown, Ruth St. Denis and Ted Shawn, Rosalind Russell, and Barbara Stanwyck. These as well as many other actors and actresses, both famous and unknown, are represented in the correspondence of the collection. Also included in the collection is correspondence from producers, directors and managers such as George M. Cohan, Lee Shubert and George Cukor. While working as an actor, playwright Clifford Odets corresponded with Chamberlain Brown and wrote an in-depth profile titled “The Great God Brown” (1928). Extensive correspondence from stock company managers and professional associations, particularly Actors’ Equity Association, also exist in the files. Chamberlain Brown’s correspondence with World War II servicemen, as well as with incarcerated men, is also included in the collection. 6
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